Paris-based architectural firm ECDM architectes have completed the Housing in Toulouse.
+ Architect's statement
Our aim here was not to work against a landscape, to impose upon it a specific residential model, but rather to suggest a model of a specific setting. The houses unfold in two sinuous curves that follow the natural lie of the land ; it is the site itself that generates the design.
This responsive manner of integration also means that each individual home is located in such a way as to enjoy wide-open views of the landscape beyond.
In effect, our aim here was to slightly de-intensify the development of the site so as to create a better quality of life, with the lower level of the project being occupied by simplex accommodation and most of the upper level being given over to duplexes. The roof terrace gardens thus blend in with the landscape.
Our work here was predicated upon a precise and concise architectural language, with unity of materials and finishing going together with a variety in types and sizes of housing.
All the homes (even the two-room apartments) extend through the depth of the building, thus guaranteeing has good ventilation and -above all- a fine view of the valley. The relation between the accommodation and the landscape is articulated by the wide wooden terraces, which function as a sort of extension of the living-room areas ; in effect, each is a veritable living-room in its own right (measuring from 9 to 20 square metres). The ground-level areas are preserved as a single piece of landscape, providing a garden that is open to all the residents. Arbours of chestnut trees mark out the boundaries.
+ Project facts
Housing in Toulouse
Program: Residential | 48 dwellings
Client: Crédit Agricole Immobilier
Architect: ECDM architectes | www.ecdm.eu
Project manager: Kikyun KIM
Engineering: EBM, 3D Manager, SETEG
Location: Lot 3, Chemin du vallon, Pouvourville, Toulouse, France
Site Area: 13 500 m²
Built surface: 4 400m²
Cost: 5.3 M€
Completion: 2011
+ All images and drawings courtesy ECDM architectes
